SPaMCAST 753 features our essay on the impact of hierarchies on engagement and fatalism. Like most things in life, the relationship is not straightforward. Hierarchies giveth and taketh away. If you don’t get the balance right you can say goodbye to engagement, innovation, and fun at work. We also have a visit from Tony Timbol who brings his insights on the life cycle of user stories to the podcast in his To Tell A Story column. In this installment, we talk about the “Wall of Confusion.” When stories are created and then tossed over the wall to another team even high-performing teams slip into the slow lane. Re-read Saturday News! This week we re-read Chapter 4 of by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais. The title of Chapter 4 is Static Team Topologies. One of the underlying messages in the chapter is that team topologies should not be static. However, not being static isn’t the same as playing musical chairs. Buy a copy and read along! -  Previous Installments: Week 1: –   Week 2: –   Week 3:  -   Week 4: -   Week 5: -     Next SPaMCAST  SPaMCAST 754 introduces Keis Kostaqi. Keis is a scrum master and coach. She will bring a Scrumban flavor to the podcast with a column on agile teams with complicated work input patterns. Keis begins her column with a bit of an introduction and a bucket load of experienced-based advice.